She welcomed me in  a motherly manner with a smile. Henriette Nyirantwali’s home strikes a first-time visitor by the cleanliness. This is also where Nyirantwali runs a juice-making factory and confectionery,  APODER GANIRA.

When I visited the enterprise in Cyanika sector, Nyamagabe District in Southern Province for this story, Nyirantwali was cleaning some utensils in the compound. I picked interest in her story when one of my friends told me that many travellers from Kigali and other towns transiting through Nyamagabe always make stop overs at her place to buy juices and confectionaries. 

"People travelling from Kigali through Nyamagabe stop at Nyirantwali’s home for refreshments, especially her tasty juice before they continue on their different journeys home,” my friend told me.

True to the testimony from my friend, as I settled down to interview her a stream of travellers made stopovers to buy juice.

Many of the residents and customers I talked to said they like Nyirantwali’s juice because of its unique taste and richness. The former primary school teacher says the taste could be a result of the ‘special’ way she makes juice and the passion with which she makes it.

"I prepare juice bearing in mind that I’m the first customer. So I always have in mind the taste I would love to have in a drink...That’s the only secret, besides ensuring that I mix all the ingredients in their right amounts,” she says.

Starting out

Nyirantwali’s life was, however, never like this; she lost her husband at an early age and had the challenge of raising her children alone without a job. 

"It was hard seeing my children lack basic needs and knowing that there is nothing I could do to change the situation,” she says.

Born in a humble family 52 years ago, the model entrepreneur in Nyamagabe studied education. After college, she  got married to a doctor.

"Life was good and I was happy in my home. It was what I had always dreamt of,” narrates the mother of four.

However, tragedy was to strike in 2002 when her husband died. To make matters worse, she had lost her teaching job while she was looking after her sick husband.

She says the death of her husband left her helpless and confused, especiallty as she did not have a source of income to look after the children and pay school fees.

"From the day my husband died, life changed for the worst. I had no job or land. I was faced with bills. Children had to go to school, eat well, get medical care and any other basic needs in life but I had nothing,” Nyirantwali recalls.

But as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Nyirantwali says she was determined to ensure that her children got everything they wanted, "even if it meant spending sleepless nights”.

"I looked around for something I could do to earn an income to support my children and was surprised to see the solution right in my compound – a water tank. Though it was small it terms of returns, it was better than nothing,” she narrates.

Water of life

Nyirantwali says the water tank at home could have provided that break she needed to start a new life. She says since Nyamagabe is usually affected by prolonged drought, she turned the water problem in her community into a business by selling water to her neighbours.

"At the beginning, I was selling a jerrycan of water at Rwf20, which I used to buy food and other basic needs for my children,” she says.

She points out that she also used the Rwf50,000 condolences contributed by staff of the hospital where her husband was working to venture into other businesses.

"In 2007, I decided to start a small canteen, where I also made fresh juice. With an extra Rwf15,000 I had saved from selling water, I was able to buy a fridge at Rwf30,000, and rented a small place at Rwf15,000. I used the balance to buy other few items to kick-start the business,” she says.

She adds that she bought passion fruits worth Rwf2,000 from which she could brew 100 litres of juice per week, earning Rwf7,000 profit per week. 

However, despite Nyirantwali’s tireless efforts, the returns were still low, and her children’s education still suffered a setback.

"It was difficult to get enough money for everything the family needed. Some children dropped out of school because of lack of fees and started helping me run the canteen,” she says.

Lady luck knocks

When all seemed to be working against her, World Vision Rwanda sponsored one the children and he resumed studies.

Nyirantwali says this eased pressure on her, and she used the opportunity to work even harder to improve her family’s standards of living.

She says the organisation (World Vision) also trained her in business management, which marked a new beginning as a businesswoman.

"The support and advice from World Vision marked the beginning of a remarkable progress for the business.

"Besides, I was given raw materials and equipment, including blenders, juice conservatives, grinding machines, jugs, juice containers, and packing materials, among others, to start making juices on a large scale,” she says.

She adds that the NGO also linked her to potential fruit suppliers in Gitega and Tare sectors through its value chain programme. She was also able to go to different agriculture exhibitions in the province. Nyirantwali says this exposed her to different business approaches, and she was also  able to network with other businesswomen and learn new skills to improve her enterprise. "In fact, all these were a stepping stone and helped me take my business to another level.

"I got fruits at lower prices from farmers and this increased my returns. Most importantly, in 2009, I was trained in small enterprise management by the University of Rwanda’s College of Business and Economics (the former School of Finance and Banking) and William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, with support from World Vision,” she says.

She notes that she acquired new skills and knowledge to manage her enterprise.

She was also awarded a certificate in entrepreneurship.

Nyirantwali says around the same time, the Rwanda Standards Board inspected her industry and awarded her the official operating license and the standards code.

Benefits

With this improvement and support from different organisations, skills and equipment, Nyirantwali was able to increase production. Currently, she earns Rwf672,000 gross income on a monthly basis from the juice enterprise.

"I am now able to pay fees for my children and buy other basic needs of the family with ease. I have also diversified from passion fruit juice, and now also make juices from tree tomato, and pineapples,” she says.

Her first-born is now a student at Kabgayi Catholic University. She employs three permanent workers in her enterprise. After deducting all her expenses, Nyirantwali takes home Rwf180,000 as her profit.

She has been able to renovate her house and buy more machines to use in her business.

Nyirantwali’s dream is to expand her enterprise and tap into other markets beyond her community.

"I hope to diversfy my enterprise to produce more types of juice and other confectionaries for instance, mango, guava, and strawberry, not forgetting soya tea among others,” she says.

Advice

Nyirantwali urges her fellow women to stand up and be heroes of their families and improve their standards of living as they set an example to their colleagues that business is worth a try.

"My struggle for survival and prosperity has showed me that nothing is impossible for a passionate woman. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail; you just have to keep a positive attitude and try again. Eventually, you will succeed,” she says.

What people say about her

Jeanine Mukamariza, who witnessed Nyirantwali rise from poverty to a self-reliant woman she is today, says Nyirantwali is an inspiration and a model businesswoman.

She adds that many women in their community have learnt a lot from her.

"Her courage and passion for business has been a great lesson to us all, challenging us to aim higher and not to lose hope if we are to become self-reliant,” says Mukamariza.